Memory Walk To End Alzheimer's

Photos by OHventures

Staggering fact of the day: Did you know that 1 in 3 seniors dies from Alzheimer's Disease or another form of dementia?

 

Sadly, a recent report revealed those statistics, fueling the fire for those who are fighting to find a cure for this horrific disease.

 

My paternal Grandfather, Harold, passed away in 2005 after suffering for years from Alzheimer's Disease. I have previously written about how amazing of a man he was, and how difficult it was to watch him spiral downward as Alzheimer's slowly took from him his memory and his mind.

 

Because of this, I have been wanting for quite some time now to become more active in the cause. I contribute monetarily each paycheck, and I have made other donations along the way as well.

This year, however, I was thankfully able to round up some of my family members (at the last minute, unfortunately, or else there would be more family involved) to take part in the 2013 "Memory" Walk to End Alzheimer's on Saturday, October 12, 2013 in Boardman Park, near Youngstown.

This was one of dozens and dozens of annual walks in which the Alzheimer's Association holds in communities across the country. This is the largest event for the organization, and it's goal is to raise funds for research and public awareness.

I, along with my dog Slider, my mother, father, aunt, and grandmother, all walked in memory of my Grandpa. I created gold medals to wear around our necks adorning a photo of my late grandfather. We joined an already existing team ("BuBu's Bunch, a team that walks in support of my friend Katie's grandmother, who is living with Alzheimer's), so we all wore neon yellow to match their team t-shirts!

Each walker was given a pinwheel flower to carry with them, each a different color to represent different things (blue flowers were for those living with Alzheimer's, orange flowers were to indicate you were walking for the cause, etc.). We carried purple flowers, which meant that we were walking in memory of someone. Purple also happens to be the color of the Alzheimer's Association.

The walk was very short in distance, but took longer than expected. For one, this was because of the large volume of people at the event - a record breaking 800! Secondly, I was walking hand-in-hand with my 81-year-old grandmother, who is a widow due to this terrible illness. She walks at a much slower pace than everyone else, due to her age, her bad knee, and I believe also because it was such a somber event.

 

With time, we finished the loop through Boardman Park, and we were very happy to have raised over $200 for the cause, and to stop and remember what a great man my grandfather was. We will always miss him, and we hope that one day, no one else will have to suffer the same way he did.

Boardman Memorial Mile Recap

Photos by OHventures

For the past 23 years, the Township of Boardman (a suburb of Youngstown) in Mahoning County has been holding its annual "Memorial Mile" race each Memorial Day. Since the road (Route 224) is already shut down for the city's big celebratory parade, it only made sense to incorporate a mini one-mile run into the mix!

Starting at the corner of State Route 7 and State Route 224, the course proceeds in an eastern direction, ending at the intersection of State Route 224 and Applewood Boulevard. Even though it is only one mile, there are two giant hills that are part of the race (thankfully that means a lot of it is downhill). The first .4 of a mile is a gradual downhill. From .4 to .55 of a mile, the course goes uphill. From .55 to .8 of a mile, the course is downhill again. From .8 of a mile to the finish is flat. The scenery consists mostly of commercial storefronts, including the Southern Park Mall on the right. The course is run by two separate groups: non-competitive runners, and competitive runners.

My sister-in-law Regina (who recently ran the Hot Chocolate 5K with me) is a pro at finding races in the Youngstown-Warren area and is even better at convincing the entire family to jump on the bandwagon and get moving! In fact, this race had the most number of my family members participating in it that I can recall! Myself, Regina, my dad Mark and mom Kim (who both walked in the Glo Run Columbus), and even my 9-year-old niece (who ran in the Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot alongside me) AND 3-year-old niece RAN in the race! What's more is that my 2-year-old nephew was pushed in a stroller the ENTIRE way by my sister-in-law. On top of that, before the race, she made red, white, and blue glitter tutus for the girls to wear during the run and parade. I really do not know how she does it all! I am very impressed.
 

Adding to the extensive list of family running, the one and only Kristen (AKA my "fitness friend" extraordinaire) joined me. Like me, Kristen lives in Columbus but is from Trumbull County and was visiting for the long holiday weekend. It was great we got to run together in a different part of the state!

There are only a few hundred people who ran in each race. Because we had the little ones, we all ran in the non-competitive heat. It was absolutely hilarious to watch my littlest niece run all bow-legged through the crowd in her tutu with her blonde ponytail bouncing around and her arms waving wildly about. After a good laugh running with her, Kristen and I decided to catch up to the older niece! She was WAY ahead, but was easy to spot because of the tutu. When we finally caught up, we decided to keep pace with her so we could enjoy the experience together (and, because, I really was in no shape to push myself that hard).

We crossed the finish line with an approximate time of 9:05! I was very proud of my niece for running the entire way. We got some water and watched as my father came in a couple minutes later, followed closely by my sister-in-law with the little kids, and my mom. It was a great bonding experience and a nice alternative to hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill!

Because the course was not a loop, we had to WALK the entire mile back to our cars! But that didn't bother us at all, and in fact was one of the most fun aspects of the race. We even stopped to get a coffee and then found a spot halfway to watch the parade! it's been so long since I have been to a patriotic hometown parade like this! There was tons of candy throwing, marching bands, elected officials, antique cars, local businesses, first responders, and more marching by. It felt good to be doing good in the good ol' Mahoning Valley!